Which emeralds are the best

Emeralds are frequently used in engagement rings and are one of the 4 most precious stones on earth. All emeralds are green but each gem varies in the depth and shade of its colour, as well as its overall quality.

If you want to choose a good quality emerald for an engagement ring, you need to understand the history behind these exceptional gems and how they are made. Alexander the Great conquered Egypt in B. During this time of prosperity, the Egyptians dug some of the first emerald mines in the world. Ancient jewellers quickly began to cut and polish the gems and include them in necklaces, armour and even sculptures.

Soon all the rich and noble in the country owned smaragdos of varying sizes and qualities. They also believed that the gems could help them foresee the future, distinguish between truth and falsehood, defeat evil spirits and cure diseases. In the s, Spanish explorers sailed to the New World and discovered a new source of emeralds. They found native South American Indians who had emeralds that were larger and even more beautiful than Egyptian emeralds.

The Indians used these gems in jewellery and numerous traditional ceremonies. The Spanish explorers carried many emeralds home with them and soon other European ships began to make their way to South America to pick up loads of emeralds and other goods that could be resold in their home countries.

Emeralds quickly became popular all across Europe and began to be set in crowns, necklaces, rings and other forms of jewellery. The gems also began to develop a new symbology that included unwavering hope, new beginnings, and love that is eternally faithful. Emeralds can be found all over the world, but the majority of them come from Columbia in South America.

The Columbians have an ancient legend that attempts to explain why the country has so many emeralds. The legend begins with a god named Are creating two immortal humans to populate the earth. Are named the man Tena and the woman Fura. One sad day, Tena and Fura lost their immortality and began to age.

They were heartbroken, not because they were growing older, but because death would eventually separate them from one another. Are saw their deep sadness and to keep them from being separated, Are transformed them into two mountains that would remain together for eternity. There are two mountains that tower over the valley protecting it from the full force of the sun, rain and wind.

The Ring of Fire is a circle that runs along the rim of the Pacific Ocean and covers roughly 40, km of land. This land is full of volcanoes and is constantly being shaken by earthquakes. The remaining emeralds enter the jewellery market and bring their unique beauty to engagement rings and other types of jewellery.

Emeralds are the green variety of a mineral called beryl. Beryl can be found in many different types of rock, including mica and limestone. This versatile mineral is composed of four primary elements: beryllium, aluminum, silicon, and oxygen. As the water or the magma cools, molecules of beryllium, aluminum, silicon, and oxygen bond together and form hexagonal crystals of beryl. Beryl is naturally transparent, but as it forms, it is coloured by trace amounts of metal. Chromium, vanadium and iron are three metals that colour beryl green.

If the beryl has a light green colour, it is simply known as green beryl, but when it has a strong, vivid green colour it becomes known as an emerald. Scientists use the Mohs Scale of Mineral Hardness to define the hardness of all minerals, including beryl and emeralds. The softest mineral on the Mohs Scale is talc. It rates as a number 1 and is softer than a fingernail. The hardest mineral on the Mohs Scale is diamond. Diamonds have a rating of 10 and are stronger than steel.

The hardness of emeralds varies slightly from gem to gem but they usually rate as a 7. This means that they are also harder than steel and can withstand the bumping and scratching that comes from being used in jewellery. Emeralds always have green as their primary colour but they can have blue or yellow overtones.

Most emeralds have three trace metals: chromium, vanadium, and iron. The amounts of these metals and how they are distributed throughout the crystal gives the emerald its overall colour. Emerald color is by far the biggest factor that establishes the value and quality of natural emeralds.

In natural emeralds, color is evaluated by three categories: hue, tonal grade, and saturation. Tonal grade establishes the degree of darkness or lightness of green that is found in the gem. You can see the difference in actual natural stones below in our emerald color chart. Generally speaking, a high-quality emerald will have a tone in the Medium to Very Dark range. But emeralds can fall into any of those categories. The tonal grade alone doesn't determine the true quality of an emerald.

Hue and saturation also have to be considered. Hue refers to the type of green color an emerald has. Saturation is what gives the color of an emerald its intensity and strength. Emerald saturation can range from very dull green to pure and vivid. However, if the stone has a dull saturation, the overall quality of it is lowered.

Emeralds are gemstones. New deposits have been found since , making Brazil one of the most important suppliers of emeralds. Brazilian emeralds are exceptional with their vibrant rich green color. A good quality Brazil emerald will display a natural glow, rich color, and good transparency which adds to the value of this gemstone.

That said, their color lacks the rich intensity that Colombian emeralds generally have. Since last several decades, East African countries have seen series of small deposits in increasing quantities of emeralds particularly in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Tanzania.

While the Sandawana mine in Zimbabwe does not have a high production as compared to other countries, the emeralds found here are very famous because of their high quality.

The majority of emeralds produced in Zambia are found in the Kamakanga and Kagem mines. The East African emeralds are rich in color and quite often found with the desirable blue-green hue.

Zimbabwe emeralds are tiny in size yet vividly colored. They are intensely green with warm yellow undertones. Though tiny, these saturated emeralds are of very high quality. Zambia is known for mining deep green rough emeralds like Colombian mines.

Zambian emeralds have a darker tone and lean more bluish green compared to Colombian emeralds. This mine is located at Brushy mountains in the small town of Hiddenite. The supply was plentiful and this created a big stir in the gemstone world.

Zambia is located in a region that is rich with gemstones, surrounded by neighboring countries also known for their gemstones Tanzania from Tanzanite and rubies from Mozambique are two examples. Over the last decade, Zambian emeralds have begun to increase in popularity as consumers begin to appreciate the quality of these emeralds.

Two distinct features of Zambian emeralds were that they had a greater level of clarity than Colombian emeralds and they had a desirable vivid green bluish color, which they receive from the presence of iron. Interestingly, Zambian emeralds are still much more affordable than Colombian stones.

While Zambian emeralds have slowly been increasing in price, they are currently still a great option if you want a stunning emerald at a lower price than you would pay for a Colombian one. This does not mean that Zambian emeralds are at all inferior. In fact, they have better clarity and stunning color and are comparable to any Colombian stone.

But as I mentioned before, Colombian emeralds have the greater reputation and a longer history, so for now, they still come first as the most desirable type of emeralds.